Konoha Will Learn
by Mysana
Summary: The Uchiha weren't the only ones planning a coup, Ino-Shika-Cho were too. (Canon divergent, one shot)


"Hey Ino," Sakura says one day over their toxicology homework.

"Yeah?"

"Why is Choji's dad Hokage, instead of yours?"

"Dad's too busy running the intelligence department," After a pause Ino adds, "And Shika's dad is the jonin commander, so he's busy too. Choji's dad used to have a genin team but they had all become chunin by that point."

"That makes sense, I guess. Did you get hemlock for question four?" And the conversation drifts off.

xXx

"Which departments are you aiming for?" Ino asks as she pulls her hair back into a braid. Her hairband had snapped during the fight which was not only annoying but dangerous. She'll have to talk to her dad about getting some of the fancier 'kunoichi' branded hairbands.

Sakura looks up from her ration bar to gauge how serious the question is, her head tilting ever so slightly. Hinata doesn't bother to look up, too busy gathering the paper from the 'body' of their 'target'. (The genin's breathing is slow and smooth, still unconscious.)

"I don't know. I think I want to start in General so I can try everything out. I kind of like the idea of going into genjutsu or medicine, since my chakra control is good. I've taken so many leadership classes that it feels like I have to at least try for upward movement. You know how it is," Sakura says, despite that fact that her teammates are both clan heirs, so it's not entirely true. They all have some idea of how hard it is for clanless shinobi to rise the ranks, despite attempts to improve their prospects over the past decade.

"I've been thinking about maybe going into diplomacy?" Hinata says, voice barely loud enough hear over the babble of a nearby stream.

"Oh, that's brilliant, Hinata!" Ino says, it really is. Hinata is really easy to underestimate and with very little work can pass as some rich girl from Capital. She's also way more patient than Sakura or Ino. Sakura makes a noise of agreement.

"What about you, Ino?" Hinata asks.

"I don't know anymore, I wanted to do something interesting. Get into the bingo book for my skills instead of my Dad's. I'm considered a high-interest target though, so I'm not allowed on foreign missions until I can look after myself. According to Dad that when I'm A-rank."

"That's insane!" Sakura insists, keeping her voice mostly quiet in her outrage. "Here, hold the scroll for a second—" the conversation pauses while they gather the 'intel' for the training exercise and seal it away. "That's totally not fair, how are you supposed to reach A-rank without going on high-rank missions?"

"I don't know! I think Dad just wants me to go into intelligence with him - which I have nothing against - but I want it to be a choice."

There are another few moments of silence as they each climb to the lower levels of the trees and starts the run back to the 'base'.

"The problem is that you're identifiable, right?" Sakura says, leading the group.

"Yeah, I think so."

"So what if… for example, you were wearing a mask?" Sakura's voice doesn't manage to sound entirely casual. "Like ANBU, hypothetically."

The forest around Konoha is dark and thick and even to someone who grew up in it, it's easy to get lost. Ino's glad they have a Hyuuga with them. (Really, their team is a bit overpowered since Ino could use a bird to find their way.)

"Your dad would kill you if you joined ANBU," Hinata says, mostly joking.

"They don't take just anyone, either," Ino says, but she's thinking about it. (She's only fifteen and won't need to decide for another two years. ANBU don't accept just anyone though so she'll need to take her last couple years old school seriously.)

xXx

It's considered impolite to bring up the Konoha Coup. People mostly pretend it didn't happen, since it was largely bloodless. Her dad hasn't really talked to her about it. She was only six when Choza became Hokage and she hasn't really cared about the whole situation except for the way it meant she can't graduate until she was seventeen.

"Ino Yamanaka." The voice comes from the shadows, which is never a good sign. "Your family are traitors to Konoha." The fact that they know who she is under her ANBU mask isn't great either. "Their actions will lead to the downfall of Konoha." Ino really wishes Sakura were here. Still. Backup should be here soon, if she doesn't check in with Bear in the next few minutes then they'll know something went wrong.

A bright red eye appears in the dark. It's the color of a sharingan, but it doesn't have tomoes. Instead, there's a pinwheel/four-sided shuriken shape. (That is really not a good sign.)

She triggers her emergency seal and then-

xXx

"Dad, I want to do this training camp!" Ino insists. (She does, she really wants to do this. Danzo-sama asked her to.)

"I don't trust Danzo, Ino-chan. We never found proof he was involved with Orochimaru, but…" he trails off for a moment and Ino feels revolted by his weakness. Danzo-sama would never let anyone defy him the way her father does.

"I want to be a good shinobi, Dad. This training camp will help."

"I-" Her father puts a hand to his forehead and she sees the moment he breaks. She doesn't smile, doesn't react, just waits. "Fine. But you have to check in with me."

"Dad! I'm a shinobi! I'm an adult."

"I know, I know."

"I can't be sending you letters like an academy student. It's only six months."

"I'll talk to Shikaku about it. I don't like it, Ino-chan."

"I know you don't, Daddy." Ino kisses her father on the cheek and walks out of the room with a bounce to her step. (She's pleased Danzo-sama.)

xXx

Maybe, if Ino hadn't been a Yamanaka, born and raised. Or perhaps if she hadn't met Sakura's Inner during a spar when they were thirteen. If Danzo was one of the Uchiha, or if he'd caught her off guard. If any one of a dozen things had been different then Ino would have been lost forever.

Danzo was an arrogant, old man; Ino was the pride of her clan; her best friend personified thought. So Ino fought, and someday she would be free.

xXx

Danzo-sama rants sometimes. About the Uchiha. About the graduation age. About Hiruzen Sarutobi. Ino listens and shows nothing, as a shinobi should. Danzo sends her on the sort of missions her father hates when he's upset. She kills children and seduces Capital officials. She infiltrates Kiri and steals children from orphanages. All as the quiet chant of 'Danzo-sama, Danzo-sama, Danzo-sama' repeats in the back of her head.

She knows what happens. She can remember the red eye reaching into her, tearing apart who she was and replacing it with who she is. She knows her old self would be upset. Her new self only cares about Danzo-sama though.

xXx

"Ino?"

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You've been acting differently." No she hasn't. She's been acting exactly the same, just like Danzo-sama asked. She has to, to avoid raising suspicion.

"ANBU's just a bit different from what I was expecting I guess. I like it though." No she doesn't. Danzo-sama doesn't approve of feeling things.

"Have you been to your therapist recently? I'm due for a checkup." Sakura says, changing the topic.

"I see one of the ANBU therapists now; we have fortnightly meetings instead of bi-annual ones."

"That seems… almost excessive."

"I agree." (Danzo-sama agrees.)

xXx

"Sakura Haruno has noticed a change in my behavior, Danzo-sama."

"How?"

"I am unsure, she has been friends with the Yamanaka clan since a young age, myself in particular."

"Could she be swayed to our cause?"

"Perhaps, it would have to be a delicate operation. She is committed to me, but she is also loyal to Konoha."

"We are loyal to Konoha. Never doubt it, we do this for the good of Konoha."

"Yes, Danzo-sama."

xXx

"The time draws near, Agent."

"Yes, Danzo-sama."

"Tonight, after the ANBU patrol passes, you will destroy the Yamanaka clan. My other agents will take care of the Akimichi and Nara. Once this done you will return to my side."

"Yes, Danzo-sama."

"It is time to return Konoha to its former glory, as it was under Tobirama."

Ino says nothing, it's not her place.

xXx

Ino doesn't feel regret. ROOT agents don't feel regret. ROOT agents don't feel anything. Still. The blood of her cousins brings her no joy. Their deaths are swift and as painless as possible. Not everyone is in the compound, but it's pretty close. There are four Yamanaka on various missions, all of whom will have mysterious accidents. Most of the Yamanaka are intelligence agents, a few go into ANBU like Ino did, but not many. She is far superior in skill to most of her family members. A few ROOT agents help her deal with any who might have caused trouble.

Danzo-sama's training doesn't allow for slacking off, not like the academy, which coddled its students. Naruto, her brother in all but blood, has been apprehended and will be kept securely.

ROOT agents feel nothing.

xXx

"Last night, Sasuke Uchiha was found in the Yamanaka compound," Ino announces, "the blood of my family, on his blade." Tears run down her face. The people of Konoha watch her. "He was apprehended by ANBU, but not before my family was massacred."

Sasuke Uchiha is dragged forward, he's been beaten and covered in seals. He appears unrepentant.

"He was not the only one found there," Ino lowers her voice, forcing the crowd to quiet their boos. "It appears as if they were going to steal the youngest of my cousins to use against Konoha. With him were Uchiha Keiko, Uchiha Akira, Uchiha Chinami, and Uchiha Fuuga."

There are more shouts and Ino waits for them to quiet down again.

"As you no doubt know, that was not the only tragedy of last night. The Akimichi and Nara clans were both massacred for their kindness to the Uchiha. As such, Konoha is currently under war restriction. There will be no leaving Konoha until the investigation is done. This was clearly a planned coup. It is only thanks to a warning from Danzo Shimura that their plan failed."

xXx

Ino does not announce that there are half a dozen shinobi missing (Sakura Haruno, Kakashi Hatake, Itachi Uchiha, Gai Maito, Neji Hyuuga, Rock Lee, and Tenten). That would shift public opinion too much. She doesn't say that some part of herself woke up as her blade slid through her father's neck. She doesn't say that Danzo Shimura will die for what he has done.

She doesn't need to say any of it, Konoha will learn.

A/N:

Beta read by the amazing To Mockingbird who writes some amazing stories that you should check out.

This fic is part of my Variation in Interpretation fics, found on AO3 about canon AUs where other clans act like the Uchiha and other characters have to deal with the consequences.

xXx

This obviously has a backstory that you can read below if you're interested.

Ino-Shika-Cho plans a coup. It starts after they realize that the Hokage had the chance to kill Orochimaru, and didn't take it. It had been building up for a while. The way the Hokage dealt with Danzo, with the Sannin, with his son, with Naruto. They hadn't been happy for a while, and during the Warring Clans era Ino-Shika-Cho had been one of the only stable alliances. (They also protected two dozen villages that lived in relative safety and comfort or the time.)

The Uchiha were caught and killed for planning a coup. Except, when you have the head of T&I and the Jonin Commander in on it (and who would suspect an Akimichi)? Well. They don't get caught.

The coup takes place after Shisui's death and before the Uchiha massacre and takes less than a full day. Danzo, realizing significantly too late what's going to happen, uses Shisui's eye to force Hiruzen to take the blame for everything Danzo did. (And so Shisui's eye closes and won't open again for ten years, or, around the time Ino turns 17.)

A lot of things change. Inoichi, being a Yamanaka and master of the mind in general, has opinions about the age of Konoha's shinobi. He could understand it during wartime, but despite the effect of Minato's death, Konoha is still one of the strongest villages. So he makes sure that the academy graduation age is pushed back to 17. If at any point, a shinobi decides they don't like killing then they get transferred to the police force where there's a lot less killing. Shinobi also get regular mental health checks.

Shikaku also has opinions about the way things are run. ANBU are required to have (basic) medical training and to retire after 5 years. More advanced (interesting) lessons are taught at all years of the academy for those who excel. The Hyuuga are strongly encouraged to remove the torture element of the caged bird seal. It can, however, be activated by the wearer or by the head of the clan and still destroys the eyes of the wearer. Also, no Hyuuga is allowed to leave Konoha without the seal. (This is still a military dictatorship. Also, because the Sharingan must be activated to be useful after it's owners death, the Byakugan just requires the eye.)


End file.
